In Memory of....

my little chickies. Wow, we had a very busy weekend, I feel exhausted. On Saturday, we broke up and did our own thing in the morning; garage sales for me, boat swap for Kyle. Then we convened and began staining the fence and playset. We had no idea how much work that would be! (we still have over 1/2 to do!) Then, Madigan and I headed on foot to the grocery store and Naya seized the opportunity to kill all 5 of our little chickens. They were in their own pen and all, but Naya must have pushed the door open and gotten in. So, that is that. The life of chicken farming. I'm pretty sad still because I loved each of my little pullets and they were developing their own personalities and everything. So, I sent some emails and made some calls, and Jenny Sabo responded. Jenny runs the meat CSA we've been doing and she sold us these four adult birds below, plus gave us 6 eggs to see if we can hatch! One of the Black Astrolops below is an old lady and likes to just set eggs now- hopefully she'll do the same for us!

And of course full grown chickens are so much different from our 6 week old ones. We tightened up security on the whole pen, added a better perch in the coop, and fixed the gate so Naya has no way of breaking in.

Here, Madigan helps:
Meet our 4 new hens:

AND, we already got our first egg!!! How crazy cool is that!?
Hunnybear enjoys the view from the egress window:
Also this weekend, we cleared out 2 rooms in the basement to get the carpet replaced and marmoleum laid in the laundry room. Glad that's over, but now we have to put it all back together...

Craft Hope

When I saw Craft Hope's 2nd project, I knew I wanted to be part of it. Craft Hope's mission is "spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time". How lovely is that? For their second project, they are asking people to make a handmade doll to give to children at an orphanage in Nicaragua. They provided a pattern via Martha Stewart here, and it was super easy. I had hopes of making the orphanage ones first and then later making Madigan one, but she's not quite old enough to understand that one. However it was a great opportunity to start talking about helping others and giving. I made the little "blond" doll for her after she went to bed. I can't wait to give it to her tomorrow morning (she took the donation doll to bed with her knowing it wasn't for her). I think I'll make a few more for the Nicaraguan children and also one for a special niece (or 2!).

For all of you out there that sew or knit, check out the site if you have time or interest.

Madigan's Montessori Apron

Almost 2 months ago, I made Madigan this apron. I love it. I had been itching to do something with this apple fabric and this made sense. I found the Montessori Apron here. She's hasn't shown any interest in it until this past weekend. I'm not sure that she gets the point of an apron, but I'm working on that.

Tutu

I was bitten by the sewing bug this past weekend...something about cold rainy, snowy weather after having such nice weather. I took the opportunity to make Madigan a tutu. It was on my to do list for awhile now, I just needed the materials. So, during nap on Sunday I whipped up this little tutu. My heart smiles when she wants to wear it everywhere- like out to visit the chickens, to the grocery store, around the house.


Madigan is doing some measuring after hanging some paper on the wall:

Bubbles

Last week when we had 80 degree weather (before the snow and 30 degree weather came back), we had some bubble time! If the weather is nice, we are outside. The fence is complete and our yard has completely changed- like we actually LOVE it and want to spend as much time in it as possible. We also finally finished the chicken coop area (yesterday) and installed a rain barrel-pictures to come soon.

Boyer Goat Farm Visit

The Monday after Easter, we got to visit the Boyer family and their new goats! Madigan was pretty quiet, but she loved every minute of it and remembers the baby goats. The Boyer have been giving us fresh eggs regularly and answering all of our chicken farming questions. They have a son who is turning two next month and he and Madigan did a good job of not acknowledging each other.


Madigan holding a "fryer" chicken.


Little baby goat love.

Kisses from a baby goat.

Finished House Projects

Kyle finished 3 of our 4 gates to the fence in the last couple of weeks. We're so thrilled to have the fence and gates up- it makes a huge difference when you have pets and preschoolers. A few years ago when we built our fence at our old house, I thought it would be cool to incorporate some old VW doors. Well, it didn't work out at that house, but it did for the current one;

We also finally hung some shelving along the stairs. It's an odd space that we weren't sure what to do with for a long time. I ordered the shelving from Rakks.com and Kyle made the bamboo shelves to match the bamboo counters nearby. (Yes, we're going to go easy on the bamboo for awhile- we realize it looks like we grow the stuff around here since we use it so much.) Not the best picture, but here it is:


In Madigan news, she knows her ABC's and can even go and pick them out when you ask her. She's amazing us everyday with her language and pretend play- she has little friends and makes up stories and things chasing her (So we have to save her). She continues to love books as much she always has. AND, she decided on our way home from dinner last Thursday that she was going to sleep in her own bed by herself. So, we went and bought a Dora the Explorer blanket on Friday and she's been going to sleep in her room since!! (Disclaimer: we still have to stay until she falls asleep, and she always comes back to our bed during the night.)